It still stuns me every year how committed people are to getting to the Moosup VJ Day Parade. I showed up at 11 a.m. this year — two hours before the parade was scheduled to step-off. By then, visitors had already set up chairs along every section of North Main Street and were securely settled in for the duration.

They sat on guard-rails on Route 14, in the backs of truck beds and under billowing tents on front laws. The parade, commemorating the Japanese army’s surrendering to the Allies in 1945 is a truly special event. There’s only a handful of similar parades in the country and no others along the East Coast. Everyone seems dedicated to having a good time. The sheer diversity of the crowd always takes me by surprise, with older veterans sharing sidewalk with skate boarders.

I don’t usually work on Sundays, but I typically volunteer to cover the parade each year that I can. I’m already looking forward to next year.